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Policy Issues: License Renewal for Older Drivers‐Analysis of the Iowa Experience in Reexamination of High‐Risk Drivers
Author(s) -
Mercier Cletus R.,
Falb Scott R.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
policy studies journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.773
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1541-0072
pISSN - 0190-292X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1541-0072.1997.tb00013.x
Subject(s) - license , referral , business , process (computing) , privilege (computing) , transport engineering , computer security , political science , engineering , law , computer science , medicine , family medicine , operating system
Loss of a driver license places an older person in the unhappy role of a transportation dependent. This dependence weighs heavily on that person' s family; if family members are nearby, they become either the sole or primary source of transportation for their transportation‐dependent parent(s). If there are no family members nearby, as occurs often in today's highly mobile society, then a major concern of that family may be their parent(s)' lack of mobility, with the parent becoming effectively restricted to home due to lack of access to adequate transportation facilities. Most of those who are involved in the issue of driver license renewal favor keeping older drivers on the road as long as possible, rather than arbitrarily denying them the privilege to drive. But there is legitimate concern about the presence of impaired drivers on the road and accompanying safety risks. Many states address this concern by devising license renewal procedures that will cause at least some potentially unsafe drivers to be flagged and referred for reexamination. This study evaluates the bases for referral and reexamination currently used in the state of Iowa and assesses the validity of referrals. The results of our analysis indicate that the current referral process works quite well in identifying at‐risk drivers, resulting in a high percentage of suspensions or imposing additional restrictions on an existing license. Results also support policies instituted by some states using age as a criterion for more frequent license renewal–which would allow examiners to test and observe driver behavior more frequently. The choice of age 75 as a threshold is supported by these results.